This invention relates to a method of increasing the growth rate and improving the feed efficiency of animals. In a particular aspect, this invention relates to a method of increasing the growth rate and feed efficiency of immature animals by administration of a member of a class of substituted quinoxalines.
In the business of raising animals for food, it is essential to feed the animals those rations and adjuncts thereto, such as growth stimulants, that provide a rapid weight gain and a high conversion of feed to animal weight. A growth stimulant is a compound which elicits a response of an animal toward its optimum genetic potential from a depression in growth rate and feed efficiency caused by intestinal bacterial flora, stress and subclinical diseases. Antibiotics such as penicillin, bacitracin and tetracyclines have been widely used for this purpose. Antibiotics have several disadvantages, however. There is the possibility that resistant strains of pathogenic organisms may develop. Also these antibiotics are expensive to produce. Accordingly there is a need for other agents to stimulate the growth of animals.